Don't we have to spend our points to actually go to places?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the barge and the people (oikonomos and phylakes) is at Sais, the incident took place in the villages upriver and the vineyard is closeby but in the opposite direction?
I'm thinking we go to Sais, move then to the villages beyond to gather evidence. We then come back to the capital and see who it leads to. We can also check if the market's changed when we're back.
Oh for some reason I thought the barge would be in Naukratis where we are, but it does make more sense that its at Sais. Hmm. Taking travel time into account does limit what we can do, unfortunately.
Looking at the map it seems that Sais and Naukratis are relatively close and both in Lower Egypt, while Arsinoe is quite a distance away in Upper Egypt, with many decently large cities in the way. I'm starting to second guess my 'catch 'em at the endpoint' approach now. Even if we only look in the bigger cities like Memphis and Heliopolis, that's still a lot of time traveling and a lot of time investigating locally.
I think a better opening play would be to go to Sais first and see what we can find out there. One we're there, check the barge and the amphorae because that's the most direct crime scene and maybe we can still ask the oikomonos some questions. Finally ask around in the markets there, try to subtly ask around for who has a motive and means to plan something like this, examine tax records for sudden downturns etc.
It occurs to me that there are three missing phylakes with three homes and families, and we have four people. If we want, we can have our bodyguards and our boy Herakleides watch the houses while we're in the markets asking around. They have to go home eventually. If they're the type to leave their families behind, we could learn that as well.
Last priority is probably the capital and the vineyard, I don't think its likely we'll get much clues there.
Thand you for clarifying, I overlooked that aspect of it and it gives me an idea.
I think that our maths deficiency will work to our detriment as a merchant here. Any experienced traders in the area will know that they don't know us, which will make them suspicious. If they start asking questions, they'll quickly figure out that we're a dummy and either think we're lying, or take us for an easy mark.
The alternative I propose is this: we pose as a fresh socialite, down here to find some good shit for a party we want to throw to make our entrance in high society. We want the best stuff: food, drugs, fancy clothes and entertainers. Oh, and booze. So much fucking booze, man. I'm not talking about that 'beer' stuff the workmen drink, either. Wine, dude. We want that good shit.
It will look something like this:
[X] Plan: Party Frickin' Hardy
-[X] Examine the barge and amphorae for any marks, traces and symbols that can be used to identify the attackers and the rest of the stolen cargo.
-[X] Fabricate a persona of and disguise ourselves as a fresh socialite down here to snoop around for party supplies: food, drugs, exotic entertainers, but especially wine. Play an affable fop. Have our entourage pose as our slaves and minders assigned by our family.
-[X] Go to the next town over from Sais to Arsinoe and ask around town for the appropriate stuff. Look for suspicious merchants, and engage them with an interest to buy their 'best stuff' at an above-average rate.
I still like this though. We should do this when we've narrowed down the possible places they'd sell.
new plan:
[X] Plan: slightly more exciting detective
-[X] Go to Sais, continue establishing rapport with bodyguards.
-[X] Examine the barge, the amphorae, and question the oikomonos if he's still alive.
-[X] Ask around in the markets for any sudden downturns, any rivals of the merchant who was robbed, basically who would have the means and the motive to carry out this premeditated theft. If we can do this, have the bodyguards and Herakleides stake out the phylakes' houses simultaneously.
After this, go to the villages and look for the phylakes, see if they're the type to leave their families behind. If they're not nearby and we know where they're going to sell the wine, activate mission party HARD.
This makes me want to replay AC Origins. I don't know how accurate it is but damn if it isn't fun.
